Cruella De Vil
Cruella De Vil is the arch-villain of The Hundred and One Dalmatians by Dodi Smith which was adapted into an animated film by Disney and later remade as a feature film which was also critically and commercially successful. Known for her chic and stylish but loud and flamboyant demeanor, Cruella is vain, self-centered and mentally unstable. She suffers from violent mood swings and is incredibly selfish to the point of psychopathy. A spoiled London heiress, Cruella is wealthy and has been on Forbes Fictional 15 for quite some years. Selfish, spoiled, and lacking self-control, Cruella displays an abrasive personality, a terrible temper, outlandish taste, and cruelty without concern or remorse. Fur coats are Cruella's only love in life. She adores fur, "absolutely lives for it," and the fur she lives for most of all is the spotted variety: Dalmatian, that is. Roger and Anita's Dalmatians, to be precise. "Such perfectly beautiful coats," she's known to purr as she plots, thinking how much better those spots would look on her. She cares not that Pongo and Perdita's tiny pups are rather attached to that fur nor that they are not for sale, at any price. She resigned to doing whatever it takes to get those coveted spots. For while Cruella lives for fur, any pups that wear it...well, she doesn't give them much thought. She embodies the Sin of Sloth as she orders her henchmen, the Baduns to do everything for her, despite her obvious intelligence and surprising physical strength. She could also be seen to personify Wrath, Pride or Greed. In addition, in 2003, she ranked 38th on the American Film Institute's list of the Top 50 Film Villains of All Time, one of only three Disney villains to make the list, the other two being The Evil Queen (ranked 10th) and Man (ranked 20th). But in UltimateDisney.com She ranked #6 (One better than Captain Hook but one under Ursula). 101 Dalmatians Disney’s first, and most critically acclaimed, version of the character appeared in One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961). This version of the character inherited several visual traits from the original Dodie Smith version: her hair, which is black on one side and white on the other; her skintight, black dress, and her enormous mink coat, which swings about her like a cloak. This version of the character, designed by Bill Peet and Marc Davis, was also completely skeletal, and smoked constantly, leaving a trail of green, foul-smelling cigarette smoke wherever she went. Her physical appearance and general manner is evocative of some sort of hellish beast or demon, a fact made reference to in her name and in her song. Cruella, an old school friend of Anita’s, claims that she cannot live without furs. She hires Jasper and Horace Badun, two incompetent crooks, to steal Pongo and Perdita’s fifteen Dalmatian puppies, and buys eighty-four more through legitimate means. She intends to have all ninety nine puppies skinned and made into clothing. The Colonel, Sergeant Tibs and Captain are among the animals of the countryside to help Pongo, Perdita and the puppies return home, while Cruella and the Baduns pursue them. Unlike previous Disney villainesses such as Evil Queen, Lady Tremaine and Maleficent, Cruella is not a schemer. Instead, she acts purely on impulse, and is thus prone to reckless behaviour, particularly tearing through the snowy landscape in her car. Unlike future versions of the character, this version of Cruella was seemingly invincible in the eyes of the Dalmatians, who, though they could just about able to keep Jasper and Horace Badun at bay, were unable to face ‘that devil woman’. Their only hope was therefore to flee; Cruella’s defeat in the film is brought about not through the deeds of the animals but her own stubborn relentlessness (which, by the end of the film, has seemingly degenerated into a mad fury), and the incompetence of her henchmen. As Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnson describe Cruella "...diabolical but not a schemer, she never thought anything over, reacting instead in purely emotional ways." 101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure In the sequel to the annimated 101 Dalmatians, Cruella is let out of prison on probation, the terms of which don't allow her any more furs. Feeling like she has nothing left to live for, Cruella instead turns to the spotty paintings of Lars. When he fails in creating the perfect painting of spots for her, Cruella pays for Horace and Jasper's release from prison, then has them kidnap the dalmatians puppies - again - to use their coats as canvasses. When Lars refuses, she ties him up. Patch manages to free the puppies, leading to a car chase through London's streets, where the puppies struggle to drive a double-dekker bus, while the Baduns and Cruella follow in the Kanine Krunchies truck. Cruella is finally arrested - again - and taken away to a mental institute for her obsession with spots. Other Versions House of Mouse In Mickey's house of Villains, Cruella formed an alliance with Jafar, Ursula, Captain Hook and Hades and they take over the House of Mouse. She says if she ruled the house, she'd run things differently. Ursula added "with a splash of Evil". Live Action For 101 Dalmatians, Cruella (played by Glenn Close) was reinvented as the head of a London-based fashion house, House of De Vil. Rather than an old schoolmate, Anita Dearly is one of her employees and, it is implied, her best designer. Cruella first takes a fancy to Dalmatian skin when Anita draws spots on one of her dress designs. Along with Jasper and Horace, Cruella had a new accomplice: Mr. Skinner, who is given the job of killing and skinning the puppies. As the head of a fashion house, Close’s Cruella was given a more varied wardrobe of furs, including an enormous, red cloak, a Siberian tiger pelt, and clawed gloves. This version of the character was less invincible than her animated predecessor, and it is the animals of a nearby farm who defeat her, in slapstick fashion, to leave her muddy, covered in manure but uninjured, after which she is arrested. In the film’s sequel, "102 Dalmatians", Cruella is seemingly cured of her fur (and spot) obsession, thanks to experimental hypnosis. Released from prison, she is eventually released from her kindly state by the chimes of Big Ben, reverting to her old self. She returned to her old ways, aided in her quest for spotted pelt by fellow fashion designer Jean-Pierre Le Pelt and unwilling butler Alonso. Her pursuit of another Dalmatian coat (this time with a hood) is once again in vain, however, as the dalmatian puppies - who have escaped her again, under the leadership of Oddball - bake her into a cake in a Parisian bakery. TV Series The incarnation of Cruella that appears in 101 Dalmatians: The Animated Series (which relocated the events of the films in America), voiced by April Winchell, shares traits with both the 1961 version and the live-action version. In design, she resembles the Cruella of the original animated version. However, the series’ slightly different design style, as well as lower budgets, resulted in a simpler design; most notably, the black dress and fur coat were dropped in favour of a simple black and white dress. This version of the character also lost previous incarnations’ excessive smoking habits - although the reason is explained in the episode Smoke Detectors - and, notably, obsession with fur; instead, her goal throughout the series was to own the land currently owned by Roger and Anita Dearly. Like the live-action version, this Cruella was the head of the House of De Vil, and was often defeated in comedic fashion. Her minions included Jasper and Horace, as well as her pet ferret, Scorch. The episode A Christmas Cruella has Cruella De Vil play the part of Ebenezer Scrooge. During the visit from the Ghost of Christmas Past (played by Cadpig), Cruella's past was explored more in depth and how her parents were never home for Christmas and would never get her a pet puppy, hinting at why she hates the Dalmatian Puppies so much. Disney TV Specials Disney's Halloween Treat: Cruella De Vil's car chasing scene from 101 Dalmatians Trivia *Cruella's name contains the phrase "Cruel Devil" (Cruel'''la '''De Vil) *Cruella is currently one of Disney's most popular villains. Competing with Maleficent and Scar *As with most of Disney's villains, Cruella's evil is driven by a desire for a certain object. In Cruella's case, it is a Dalmatian coat *Cruella is the only Disney villain to have three different versions of her character (animated film, live action film, and animated series) *Cruella is a member of the Disney Divas. *Cruella also shares a few similarities with Ratigan from The Great Mouse Detective. They both live in London, smoke cigarette poles, have henchmen who are responsible for the story's kidnapping , and they both develop red eyes while chasing the protagonists. *Also, they both go insane at the movie's climax. See Also *Madame Medusa Category: Classics Category: Rich Category: Completely mad Category:Women Category:Disney's Halloween Treat Category:Living characters Category:Comical Villains Category:Foiled Villains Category:Disney Divas Category:Live-Action Category:Mickey's House of Villains Category:Thieves Category:Masters of Evil Category:Females Category:Most Evil Category:Sequel Villains Category:Foolish Characters Category:Evil geniuses Category:Toon Villains Category:Woman